It’s not a new word though, it’s an onomatopoeia that dates back to late 50s science fiction, specifically in regards to robots, because that was the sound you would expect a moving metal husk to make.
Star Wars is what adopted the term to refer to the many droids of their universe. The droids are cheap, mass produced weapons used by the antagonists of the series, and therefore clanker is used to refer to them. Droids are the bad guys, bad guys = clankers, AI is seen as the bad guys, clanker = AI.
It’s not a new word though, it’s an onomatopoeia that dates back to late 50s science fiction, specifically in regards to robots, because that was the sound you would expect a moving metal husk to make.
Star Wars is what adopted the term to refer to the many droids of their universe. The droids are cheap, mass produced weapons used by the antagonists of the series, and therefore clanker is used to refer to them. Droids are the bad guys, bad guys = clankers, AI is seen as the bad guys, clanker = AI.